A divided Chico Unified School District board of trustees voted 3 to 2 to keep the school, located at Citrus and West Fourth avenues, open.

The question of Citrus's future was tied to the future of Loma Vista School. Loma Vista is the district's special education school. Among the things it offers is a special education pre-school.

For nearly three hours the trustees listened to its master plan consultants, Loma Vista principal Eric Snedeker, and many parents, students and neighbors of Citrus School present their divergent opinions on what should happen.

Before the discussion had gone on for long Trustee Liz Griffin moved the board take an approach that would have Loma Vista do what expansion is possible at its 2404 Marigold Ave. campus.

Snedeker explained that the district is mandated by both state and federal law to provide a pre-school program for special needs children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. The program has to offer "the least restrictive environment" possible. A private institution called Innovative Pre-School partners with Loma Vista to provide the service.

Snedeker said the pre-school is growing at a rate of about one classroom a year.

The district's draft master plan had called for moving the pre-school to the Citrus campus, and moving the Citrus students to Chapman, Emma Wilson and Neal Dow elementary schools.

According to the CUSD records Citrus school, with the smallest enrollment in the district, has 344 students at present and was projected to drop to 315 students in 10 years.

A steady parade of Citrus supporters — parents, students and neighbors — asked the trustees to not look at the school's size but at its heart.

One young girl told the board, "We are all family here at Citrus. We have lots of fun and laughter. Citrus is able to provide a valuable education. I know my school is very valuable so please, please keep it open."

A fifth grade boy said, "I think we should keep Citrus open because there are lots of kids and parents who depend on it."

Griffin told her colleagues on the board that in the last five to six years "this school has been totally transformed."

She explained the school has almost an entirely new faculty and a new principal in that time.

Trustee Andrea Thompson said no other school in the district has achieved improvements in the standardized test scores better than Citrus.

She said some students thrive in a small-school environment.

Thompson said the CUSD has never subscribed to a one-size fits all academic model and there is space for Citrus.

The option Griffin and Hovey were supporting called for some expansion on the existing Loma Vista campus, but Robinson pointed out that would be only a stop-gap measure and in a few years the school would still need to grow.

Board President Kathy Kaiser agreed with Robinson, saying moving the pre-school to Citrus made the best long term sense.

Thompson said, despite some problems Citrus, the oldest school in the CUSD, is a historic facility.

Beyond that the school has been able to set up two computer labs that means it is already prepared for the Common Core educational standards that have been adopted by California and will require students to take standardized exams on computers.

Many of the parents and neighbors described Citrus is more than a small school.

One man put it simply when he said, "Citrus is not a school. It is a community."

Both Griffin and Thompson pointed to the strength of parental support of the school and pointed to the dedication and commitment of the school's volunteer organization called the Bidwell Angels.

Thompson offered a "friendly" amendment to Griffin's motion, proposing that the issue of growth for Loma Vista be revisited at a later phase of the master plan projects. The amendment was accepted.

When the vote was taken Griffin, Thompson and Hovey voted in favor, while Kaiser and Robinson were in opposition.

For a few seconds after the vote the audience, who were gathered in the Roger Williams Theater on the Chico High School campus, sat silently, but then the erupted in applause.